Mugen no Jyuunin

December 2002

This month, we get to follow what happens to Manji after his run-in with Kagimura, as well as see how the "Three's Company" situation between Isaku, Rin and Doa evolves...

Last month, Rin had agreed to let Doa and Isaku stay with her...

"I'm totally regretting that decision."

We see them eating in her house... everyone's being really, really quiet. I guess they haven't broken the ice with some Twister quite yet.

Isaku (who wins the award for longest last name to date: "Yasonookami") doesn't seem to fit his body- he's calm, reserved, and quiet although he has that huge body.

His eyes are blue, even though his hair is black. She thinks that he may be from "the south" or something.

As for Doa, she can't quite tell her age, but she's always calling her "Koitsu" ("...her...") in her head. Rin spends a little time trying to guess at what they're relationship is- Sorta like brother and sister, but they're too different. They're not close enough to be married, either.

Rin asks Doa why she made that hole in the wall...

"...a window..."

There were no large openings/windows/doors in the dojo, being connected directly to the house. In Doa's village (Ainu), it's important to have a south-facing window of some kind so that the "good gods" can come in and bring blessings. Otherwise, only the "bad gods" stay in the house, and you end up having only bad fortune.

Rin's like "Oh kay... ... ... must be a Feng Shui thing..."

Rin tells Isaku that she's going to town all day- and to get Doa to help him fix the wall (he does not want to make Doa help, probably because she'll bitch at him)

. . . .

Rin has a "woman's intuition" (as she says) feeling that Manji is still in Kagimura's household, so she heads back there and starts to think for a bit... She pieces together that Giichi brought Manji back here on some sort of Mugai-ryu business. She saw Hyakurin here too... which means that Hyakurin might know something about what's going on. She sets off to find Hyakurin.